Abstract
This paper discusses how women in the U.S. and Europe who practice belly dancing but don't fully understand Arab culture may have helped destroy the integrity of the dance. The author also discusses how belly dancing allows the Western dancer to transcend cultural boundaries which is why so many Western tourists are drawn to belly dancing.

From the Paper
"Most of these women were probably not thinking about how this lack of understanding of Arab culture by Western dancers may be helping to destroy the integrity of the dance. In the West, the belly dancer seems to have become the epitome of the "exotic other." Through a lens distorted by ethnocentrism, the dancer's body has become a symbol for conflicting values regarding the body, ethnicity, and sexuality.
"The ideologies that have developed around belly dancing in the Western world, namely, the United States and Europe, can be understood as a single facet within the larger historical context of Orientalism. In an October 2004 lecture, UC Davis Professor Baki Tezcan, notes that the symbolic starting point of Orientalist scholarship began with Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798. More of a crude farce of anthropology than serious scholarship, the "scholars" who studied the area did so in the context of justifying imperialism and exploitation. They used their studies to "prove" that the "East" was vastly different and inferior to the "West." This East-West dichotomy and the power relationship inherent within has became ingrained into the Western consciousness. Even into modern times, few even think to question it. In her article, "Race Sexuality, and Arabs in American Entertainment, 1850-1900," Lori Anne Salem describes the frequency with which "Arab" acts--acrobatics, dancing, and acting--were part of curiosity or "freak" shows in the United States in the mid to late nineteenth century. Performers in such shows usually had "descriptive tags that advertised their oddity and explained why they were interesting," such as "Millie Christie, the two-headed girl" (214). Yet the Arab acts lacked such tags: "Without it, the advertisements imply that the Arabs were freakish by definition--no explanation needed" (215)."

Tags:orientalist, dancers, arab, sexuality, dancers

Abstract
This is a spectacular looking bird, which grows to a height of 27 cm. It is very beautiful, with distinctive bright blue wings, rump and tail, and orange head and belly. The beak is large and red, and the head has two distinctive bright blue stripes on it. However, it is also very secretive and seldom seen (Birdlife International 2007). This is a spectacular looking bird, which grows to a height of 27 cm. It is very beautiful, with distinctive bright blue wings, rump and tail, and orange head and belly.

From the Paper
Actenoides bougainvillei (Moustached Kingfisher) Report on the Conservation status of Actenoides bougainvillei (Moustached Kingfisher) Taxonomy This species is classified as follows: Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Coraciiformes Family: Alcedinidae Common Name/s: Moustached Kingfisher

Tags:species, vulnerable, kingfisher

Abstract
This critical review comments on the themes, methodological challenges, suggestions and perspectives in the three articles: Nagar's "Exploring Methodological Borderlands through Oral Narratives", Miraftab's "Can you Belly Dance?" and Oyewumi's "Visualizing the Body: Western Theories and African Subjects". The writer maintains that these articles all fall within the tradition of feminist contributions to the re-evaluation of difficult challenges that arise within the fields of social anthropology and ethnography. Each adopts a very different approach, but all are thought-provoking, especially because none of the authors is a typical social anthropologist. The writer concludes that all three articles offer different insights and advice. However, the three are welcome voices, in that they smash the typical stereotype of white, Western, usually male cultural anthropologists.

From the Paper
"This traditional situation is subverted by the women researchers in these three articles. For example, Nagar is a young, unmarried woman, from a lower-middle class Hindu family in India, who has affiliations with Western universities, as well as a white boyfriend in the USA. She is multilingual, well educated and a part of the elite in the sense of being globally mobile and funded to do research. In that sense, she is entirely different from the people she researches. On the other hand, when she researches the Asian community of Dar Es Salaam, she has sufficient common ground with some of them - e.g. being Asian, being Hindu, sharing languages, ability to adopt approved clothing styles, such as salwaar kameez, or a sari, depending on context - that she can frequently be accepted by these communities as an insider. This positions her vis-a-vis the communities she studies in an utterly different position than if she had been a white, American man, who quite obviously could not simply don a sari and blend into a social group of Asians in Dar es Salaam! This unusual situation on the one hand puts her in a much less powerful - for example, the American male would probably not be sexually propositioned by an interviewee. However, her entree into these communities must surely enable her to gain more understanding of the communities."

Tags:anthropologist, communities, culture, western

Abstract
This paper examines the art, form and traits of the carved marble female figures attributed to the Schuster Master whose real name is unknown and is identified only by the style of his work. It shows how these remarkable pieces dating back to 2400 BCE and sculpted in marble serve as reminders of the evolution of ancient Greek art and all have a prominent, linear nose, a curvaceous forehead and hints of pregnancy in the belly. The Schuster Master may have intended simply to convey the power of pregnancy or of the female spirit but Cycladic art is deceptively minimalist and original pieces, painted and decorated have exhibited the sophisticated understanding of the artist for his media.

From the Paper
"However, the models arms are tightly crossed and drawn across her torso. This pose is reposed, relaxed, resolute, and refined. The folded arms form a square that balances perfectly with the otherwise cylindrical nature of the statue. The elbows are pointy, perhaps suggesting a stubborn nature. This is no pushover. The Cycladic woman sticks to her guns; she is an effective leader. Her decisions are final, evident by her stoic stance. The artist?'s lack of detail in depicting her form also indicates a lack of frivolity in the female personality."

Tags:linear, nose, curvaceous, forehead, pregnancy, belly, marble, sculpture, greek, art

Abstract
In this paper, Lewis offers a personal account of the cutthroat world of Wall Street, as seen through his own personal experiences. In this manner, the reality of interpersonal relationships in his professional life often result in the author delving deeper into the belly of the money hungry beast within the Salomon Brothers firm. Although he does seem to represent a confessional approach in his narrative, Lewis often makes claims as to how Wall Street operates without the benefit of quantitative analysis in regards to how financial institutions really operate.

From the Paper
"The central aim of "Liar's Poker" by Michael Lewis is to present the reality of the Wall Street and the wanton greed associated with trading. There are many books that I have read about Wall Street that provide instructional or "self help" approaches to becoming a successful business person in this type of environment, but Lewis's perspective teaches the most about the realities of trading life. By having used his own personal experience to reflect the business environment he had to survive on a daily basis, the cruelty and passive aggressive behaviors of his "gentleman" business associates often resulted in nightmarish greed and excessive monetary squandering."

Tags:lewis, poker, liar

Abstract
This paper is a comparative review of three books on the subject of Japanese atrocities and war crimes during the Second World War. The three books to be compared are Yoshimi Yoshiaki's 'Comfort Women: Sexual Slavery in the Japanese Military During World War II', Judith Pearson's' Belly of the Beast: A POW's Inspiring True Story of Faith, Courage, and Survival Aboard the Infamous WWII Japanese Hellship', the Oryoku Maru, and Yuki Tanaka's 'Hidden Horrors: Japanese War Crimes in World War II'. Although all three of these books deal with related subject matter, they take very different approaches, thus casting light on the subject matter from different directions.

Tags:japan, warcrimes, rape